Govt ensures OROP arrears payment in record time

New Delhi: The Government of India which accords utmost importance to the welfare of ex-Servicemen, has kept its promise with regard to the historic decision taken on September 5, 2015 to implement the more than four decades old demand of Ex-Servicemen for One Rank One Pension (OROP), by ensuring that payments have begun to the concerned in record time.

“We are trying that all the ex-servicemen get their arrears and pensions by the Holi,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told the media.

“We are feeling proud to say that we have fulfilled what we have said on OROP. We have disbursed current payment and arrears of 13, 05,000 pensioners. We are grateful to the Defence Department staff and banks like the State bank of India and Punjab National Banks who worked overnight to disburse around 2293 crores by 17th March.

We are trying that all the ex-servicemen get their arrears and pensions by the Holi,” Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told the media here.

“I would like to thank banks and also our staff for making it possible. I wish that all the ex-servicemen celebrate a colorful Holi,” he added.

Orders had been issued with regard to this historic decision, through a notification on November 7, 2015 by the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (ESW) of the Ministry of Defence.

Within three months of the issue of these orders, the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (ESW) brought out detailed OROP tables on February 3, 2016, which are also available on their website www.desw.gov.in.

The 101 tables in these implementation orders contain revised pension of different ranks and categories. In the past implementation of CSC-2012 and 6th CPC had taken a longer time.

More than two-thirds of the ex-Servicemen have now been paid the OROP arrears.

Payments have now reached the accounts of 13.02 lakh pensioners amounting to about Rs. 2,293 crore.

This amount has been released through Defence Pension Disbursing Offices (DPDOs), the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Punjab National Bank (PNB).

As on March 17, the DPDOs have released an amount of about Rs. 606 crore to about 3.20 lakh defence personnel.

The State Bank of India has as released up to March 17 an amount of Rs. 1,337 crore to 7.75 lakh pensioners which includes Family Pension cases.

The Punjab National Bank has released as on March 17, an amount of about Rs. 350 crore to about 2.07 lakh pensioners which includes Family Pension cases.

Other banks who have also been assigned the task of disbursement of revised defence pension to ex-Servicemen have been directed to complete the process of payment latest by March end.